Patient: I had lost a bunch of weight over time, had two children, you know, between all of that I had probably gained and lost about 100 pounds, and my belly just didn't look like it used to; just lots of stretch marks, and just that little pooch no matter how often I went to the gym. And I was really good about the gym and I was really good about eating well, it just
wasn't going away.

So in my very particular case, I needed a hysterectomy, and I just thought, "If I'm having that procedure done, I would also go ahead and have a tummy tuck", and Dr. Vickery just made me feel really comfortable about doing that procedure in a joint way; she had worked with my GYN before. It just seemed like the right time to do it. And she was so confident that she could make my stomach look great, and so I was sold pretty quickly that that was the right decision for me, and at the end of the day it totally was.

Dr. Vickery was wonderful about walking me through what was gonna happen and what to expect, and we had all the pre-op appointments and I was very clear. I also had the combination surgery and my other doctor and they both worked together really effectively, so that I showed up at the hospital and it was clear that everybody knew what their role was
gonna be on that.

By the end of two weeks, I was maneuvering myself around a little bit more, but still was sore, and my back still hurt. And I think by the end of three weeks, I finally felt, like, OK, and could kinda keep up with my kids again and take care of things around the house. You know, as a mommy, you're used to being in charge of everything and being able to take care of everything, and you definitely, definitely, definitely have to carve out the time that you have to take care of yourself in a post-surgical period.

I love, I love, I love my belly now. Dr. Vickery was totally right. She always said, "You don't need to walk around with that belly", and, you know, she took it off, and it really looks great. And I show my friends, and one friend was actually, she was fairly jealous, and she said, "You could bounce a quarter off your abdomen!", and I never had that kind of stomach before, and to actually have it now feels great. You know, I work out, I have a six-pack, it's awesome!

I would say, you know, to go in with your eyes wide open. This is a big surgery, you shouldn't be taking it lightly, and you need to carve out the right time in your life to do it. You know, if your kids are really, really small, that probably isn't the time. My kids were six and eight when I did it, and that was the right time. They were old enough that I wasn't carrying them around, they could take care of themselves a little bit, they could understand Mommy needed some time to heal. I think as long as you plan it in the right time in your life, I think it's totally worth it! It's worth a few weeks of being laid up, and, you know, you'll feel great, you'll look great, it's exciting!